WSPR stations transmit a beacon containing callsign, grid square and power, and every receiving station uploads what it heard to a shared database. You then look up who copied you, from where, and at what signal level.
It is a propagation instrument rather than a conversation. A few hundred milliwatts into a wire antenna is routinely reported from the other side of the world, which tells you a great deal about your antenna and about the band.
It is the cheapest honest answer to the question every operator asks: is it my antenna, or is the band dead?
At a Glance
- Category
- Beacon
- On the air since
- 2008
- Bandwidth
- About 6 Hz
- Speed
- Two-minute transmissions
- What you need
- A sound card interface, or a dedicated low-power WSPR beacon
- Where to listen
- WSPR sub-bands — but you watch the reports online rather than listen